There's no magic bullet for spurring redevelopment of the Pullman State Historic Site, concluded an Urban Land Institute panel in a recent report. The panel, stacked with commercial real estate experts and assisted by the city and state, convened in October to take on maintenance and reconstruction issues plaguing the 13.5-acre former factory site. The site is also home to an ornate office building, hotel, and hotel annex, all dating to the late 1880s. Just to the east is the city's Pullman Park initiative, which will involve a small Wal-Mart, other retail, and housing. So, what did six months of discussion yield? A proposal to clean up the factory for tours and convert the hotel to restaurant. The community interjected with the idea of building the Barack Obama Presidential Library here, but the site was deemed inadequate. [Globe St.]
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